It's also a relief to report that the local-dimming system only very rarely produces evidence of the common phenomenon among LED-backlit TVs whereby light halos appear around bright points in otherwise dark pictures.
The sharpness and detail in the 46SV685DB's pictures are also superb. High-definition footage looks almost three-dimensional, thanks to the TV's ability to render detail, while Resolution+ makes standard-definition sources look markedly closer to HD than we customarily see with 1080p sets.
The 46SV685DB's colours impress in many ways too, thanks, in particular, to the set's knack for portraying subtle colour shifts and blends with extreme finesse. This also helps pictures look dynamic and involving, rather than flat and unrealistic.
As for motion, the 200Hz engine (it uses a scanning-backlight/frame-interpolation combination, rather than an actual 200Hz refresh rate) works rather well. It doesn't achieve the same impact as, say, Philips' or Samsung's 200Hz pictures, but some people might well prefer its more reined-in approach, especially as there are impressively few processing side effects. If you're one of those purists who hate the whole idea of motion processing, you'll be glad to know that, even with the 200Hz engine deactivated, motion judder and blur are seldom distracting.
Overall, the 46SV685DB produces easily the best pictures we've yet seen on a Toshiba set. It doesn't sound bad either, using its bulk to produce a louder, more dynamic sound stage than most flat TVs.
But the 46SV685DB isn't without its flaws. Watch it from any significant angle, and you'll start to see obvious backlight inconsistencies and reductions in contrast and colour. The set's pictures are also just slightly too green in tone. This is particularly obvious when using the TV's default settings, but, even after extensive calibration, images don't look quite right for such an expensive TV.
Conclusion
Toshiba's Regza 46SV685DB is certainly a mighty fine TV. The main reason we can't give it a higher score is its price. While this TV is undoubtedly very good, we're not fully convinced it's worth shelling out £2,500 on.
Edited by Charles Kloet
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